According to Daniel Pink in his latest book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, when you do something matters more than why or what.
This is an essential insight because most of the leadership literature focuses our attention on the other two things. Anytime the word when comes up, it is around productivity or time management, but Pink takes a different look at it. He asks if when we do something matters for each person and the answer is “Yes!”
Here are three takeaways:
1. When we do something matters. There is a time for each task. There is a better time for meetings, thinking work, administrative work, etc. If you are a preacher like I am, there is a better time of day to work on your sermon and time that you will struggle.
I found it fascinating that according to studies, 2:55 pm is the least productive minute of the day.
The reason this matter is because many times we are doing the wrongs things at the wrong times.
This is important to if you are a parent. Pink went into multiple studies that showed when students should do math or English, what the impact of taking a test in the afternoon versus taking a test in the morning.
Lastly in this section, the importance of breaks. I try to take a break and stand up, move around (outside is better than inside, with someone is better than alone, and without your phone is best) every 50-55 minutes. Just a short 5-minute break where I move around has proven to be incredibly important for me.
2. The ending is important. Pink points out how many Yelp reviews mention the end of an experience, especially at a restaurant.
This is one that I think has enormous implications for churches in how they end their services. I don’t know what this looks like because I feel like many church services, even at my church, just kind of end.
The end is what people walk away with, what they remember, so thinking through the end of a talk, sermon, class or service is crucial.
3. Understand the impact of the middle on a project. My personality is one that just pushes through something.
As Pink unpacked the beginning and end of something, which is very obvious to me, but he also talked about the importance of the middle and how often things are lost in the middle. Especially the energy of a team.
This was a fascinating book with a lot of implications. One I’d put on your summer reading list.